I did not have the authority to award D28M contract - Says Ex-Gamtel MD

Babucarr
Sanyang, former managing director of GAMTEL, yesterday appeared before the
Janneh Commission and said that he did not have the authority to award a
contract to the tune of D28, 000,000 to Mobicell Company.

He
was testifying in connection to Gamtel-gateway contracts.

He
said he was the managing director of Gamtel from December, 2011, to September,
2013 when his service was terminated but reinstated in February, 2014, and
terminated in March, 2017.

According
to him, prior to this, he was the deputy managing director of Gamtel and had
served GAMTEL for 37 years. Commission’s counsel, Amie Bensouda, told him that
there was a contract between Gamtel and the National Assembly for the
installation of Voice over Internet Protocols (IPVS) at the new assembly
building in Banjul.

The
witness was shown a document showing an additional work at the assembly which
he confirmed to have signed; adding that the sum of $588,808.17 was the amount
subcontracted to Mobicell Company, further noting that it was the National
Assembly that sought for the approval of GPPA for the contract to GAMTEL.

Mr.
Sanyang testified that he signed the contract between Gamtel and the National
Assembly; however, he said there was no contract signed between Mobicell and
Gamtel regarding the subcontract for the installation of the said gargets at
the National Assembly by Mobicell.

He
added that he set up a team for the contract comprising officers from the
customer service and technical departments of Gamtel, and they initially
proposed to deploy Panasonic switchboard to avoid breaking finished work but
the Panasonic switchboard was not suitable for the service they requested.

The
former MD told the commission that the team he set up was headed by one Sarjo
Khan including some members from the Switchboard System but when asked by
Counsel Bensouda who were the other members of the team, he responded that he
could not remember them off head but promised to find out and furnish the
commission.

Further
testifying on the project, he disclosed that they led a fibre cable which was
supposed to handle both Data and Voice but it was later discovered that it was
not suitable for the services required, and a Sisco platform was proposed to
them.

At
this juncture, a letter showing the receipt of offer of the award by the
National Assembly was shown to him, and it was put to him that there was
nothing to show that the National Assembly approved the contract between Gamtel
and Mobicell, and that the GPPA either did not approve the same contract.

In
response, he said he did not see any correspondence to show the approval by
GPPA and the National Assembly for the contract by Gamtel to Mobicell. He
begged to differ with the statement made by the director of Finance, Mr.
Banding Sillah; that the Finance Unit of Gamtel was not in the picture of the
said project and was only authorised to effect payments by him (Sanyang).

When
asked by Counsel Bensouda whether he had any authority to award a contract to
the tune of $28,000,000 to Mobicell without approval from GPPA, he responded
that he did not have the authority to do so without approval from the board or
GPPA.

He
said he did not have the contract documents with him but was of the belief that
they could be found in the office files; adding that he did not either have
documents justifying that Gamtel earned some money from the project. However,
Mrs. Bensouda told him that Mr. Sillah confirmed that Gamtel did not generate
anything from this project.

Minutes
of meeting read to the witness disclosed that he informed the National Assembly
Members that Gamtel had the capacity and capabilities to execute the project.
Mrs. Bensouda then asked him whether he could not ask Mobicell to deal directly
with the National Assembly. He responded in the affirmative.

However,
he said he was after the interest of his company generating some funds; adding
that the proprietor of Mobicell Group is one Balla Jassey whom he came to know
in 2006. According to Mr. Sanyang, Mr. Jassey was contracted with the
commissioning of the AU Submit network system in The Gambia.

Responding
to Commissioner Abiosseh George, he said it was an oversight for not signing a
contract with Mobicell; adding the System at the National Assembly is
autonomous and they were advised to commission a generator, in case NAWEC went
off.

He
also informed the commission that there was an incomplete work at the assembly
but it was almost finished because NAM members requested for additional
equipment to be installed, such as CCTV’s which he said contributed to the
delay of the project and payments as well.

The
former Gamtel boss revealed that they put a mark-up on the offer given to them
by Mobicell and sold it to the National Assembly. However, Commissioner George
told him that it was an expensive risk by Gamtel in the execution of the NAM
project because members from the finance and legal units were not part of the
team.

Further
responding to commissioners, he told Commissioner Bai Mass Saine that the
National Assembly was aware that the project was outsourced to Mobicell but
they never raised any objection; adding that his team and Mobicell were all
managing together, as the National Assembly had an issue with payments from the
Ministry of Finance.

He
finally testified that the system at State House was directly under the office
of the former president but he did not recommend for Mobicell to work directly
with State House. “I wanted to generate money for my company from
Gamtel-Mobicell-National Assembly contract,” he told the commission.

Earlier,
Banding Sillah, director of Finance, GAMTEL, reappeared in connection to Gamtel
gateway contracts and testified that he showed an IPVS System that had to do
with the Switchboard at Gamtel, as he also dwelled on the contract between
Gamtel-Mobicell and the National Assembly.

According
to him, he knew the contract through an email informing them that it had been
signed between Gamtel and the National Assembly; adding that he was
disconnected from the system.

He
further testified that there was a part payment of D14,000,000 and called the
former NIA boss and asked what happened, noting that the former NIA boss told
him that the contract was between Gamtel and the National Assembly and that
Gamtel had subcontracted the contract to Mobicell.

The
Finance director revealed that he was not privy to any contract and was told
that Gamtel was given another contract by the National Assembly and the said
sum of D14, 000,000 was paid to Mobicell while there was additional payment of
$35,000 for late interest payment.

He
said they had a procurement policy as per the GPPA Act and if they had
contracts, the procurement department of Gamtel would initiate the process internally
provided that it was not beyond D500,000 but anything more than this amount,
they would invite for quotations. He said they would open a tender and there
would be a tender box at Gamtel where suppliers would put in their bids and the
tender would be opened which they would go through.

According
to him, there was a committee that would do the contrast and they would write
to the winner. He told the commission that there was an approval from the GPPA
for the National Assembly to award the contract to Gamtel. He disclosed that
Gamtel also provided similar services to other institutions for the IPVS
system.

Mr.
Sillah at this juncture disclosed to the commission that Gamtel could have done
the project without subcontracting it to Mobicell; adding that he had two
letters and one was addressed to the clerk of the National Assembly, dated 15th
January, 2015.

However,
he testified that he did not find a letter concerning the subcontract awarded
to Mobicell by Gamtel, further stating that the total value of the contract was
D28, 000,000.

According
to him, if Institutions wanted services from Gamtel, they could also pay in
full and take ownership of the equipment; adding that he did not have any
document relating to the system at State House, neither was he privy to the
financial status of Gamtel-National Assembly contract.

However,
he told the commission that he was informed that Gamtel would only benefit
after the commissioning of the project. He added that on the late payment by
Gamtel, Sarjo Khan sent a letter to the National Assembly informing them that
they were ordered to settle the bill of late payment which was to be refunded
by the National Assembly.

Mr.
Sillah further revealed that Trust Bank paid Mobicell the sum of $585,807.77 as
well as $35,000 as late payment. He said they had written to the attorney
general and minister of Justice for legal opinion on Gamtel, Mobicelland
National Assembly contract for Mobicell not finishing the project which was
fully paid for.

He
finally testified that he did not come across any document showing that the
National Assembly agreed for the contract given to Gamtel to be subcontracted
to Mobicell.

Dodou
C.M. Kebbeh, Clerk of the National Assembly, also testified on the same subject
matter.